peters



A. MARSH, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, E. H. COVELL, J. Q. DUDLEY, AND R. HOLMES, OF SAME PLACE.

GAS-RETORT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,169, dated August 10, 1858.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALFRED MARSH, of Detroit, in Vayne` county, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mode of Constructing Gas-Retorts for the Manufacture of Illuminating-Gas and the Cleaning of the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accomA panying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure l is a section of retort; Fig. 2 is a plan of thetop of retort.

The nature of my invention consists in the construct-ion of apparatus for the manufacture of gas from resin or oils, in providing a vertical retort and placing within said retort a spiral column supported upon feet and having a tube or iiue passing through its entire length being perforated with holes at right angles with the `iue and between the threads of the spiral column, the Vwhole column being surrounded by an iron case fitting close to the column. I also provide a tube leading from the retort to the chimney or smoke pipe supplied with a cock to carry off the fumes when in the act of burning out or cleaning the retort; and in order to promote combustion, I construct an aperture in the cover of the retort to admit the air and close said aperture with a cap set in fusible alloy. This I do not claim here, reserving any right I may possess in it to be set forth in a future application.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct my retorts of any known substances usually employed for such purposes. The retort A, as shown in the drawings, is placed in a vertical position in a stove or brick bench as may be desired.

In the retort I insert a column B, of cast iron or any other desirable substance made in the form of a screw C, presenting an inclined plane to conduct the gas making material as resin or oils from the upper part of the retort at the inlet D, down the inclined plane to the bottom, or from the cooler to the more intensely heated portions of the retort and by this means to prevent the gas making material from accumulating `too much at one point, thereby producing imperfect gasification, my object being to prevent such by affording a large surface for the decomposition of the liquid. This plane may be more or less inclined as the sizeof the retort is increased or diminished or as circumstances may require.

In the center of the column B, I castor bore a flue E, running the entire length of the column with openings at top and bottom to conduct the gas generated at the lower part of the retort to the upper chamber and thence to the outlet F, after the gas shall have remained a sufficient length of time at the intensely heated surface to evolve the permanent gas. I also make apertures or openings between the threads of the screw in the column B, as seen at G, leading into the flue E to liberate the gas generated between the threads of the screw and pass it into the flue E.

The spiral column B rests on three or more feet H, which sustain the column at the proper distance from the bottom of the retort creating what I call the lower chamber in the retort to enable the permanent gas to pass up the flue E, or between the case and the retort as seen by the directions of the arrows in that part of the drawings. I also construct an iron case J, which surrounds the entire column and cause it to lit closely the spiral column B, which will stand when in its place three eighths of an inch or more if desired from the inside of the retort A, and thus present a heated surface for the gas as it passes from the lower to the upper chamber and also prevents the gas-making material from running over the sides of the screw C. This case is open into the upper as well as lower chamber and kept from sliding down by the pin K.

To clean or burn out the retort, .I place a pipe into the cover of the retort L, as seen at M, in Fig. 2, leading to the chimney or smoke flue to carry off the fumes in the act of cleaning the retort. The opening N represents the passage for the air to promote combustion by removing the cap O, as seen in Fig. l. This cap is set in fusible alloy, that it may be easily removed when in a heated state.

In operating this retort the gas-making material is fed through the pipe D, and falls upon the upper surface of the spiral column B and passes down the inclined plane unt-i1 it reaches the bottom of the retort or until it is evolved by the heated surface with which it comes in contact on its Way to the bottom. The top of the inclined plane is supposed to be much cooler than at the bottom Where it is desirable to have the retort as Well the spiral column at a dull red heat. As soon as the gases are generated, they are forced over a heated surface at a dull red through the flue E and up through 'the space between the case J, and the retort as Well as every other part of the surface presented in this arrangement Within the retort, and the permanent combustible gas is evolved and ready to be passed off at the outlet F. A very large heated surface is here obtained.

In cleansing the retort of the carbonaceous matter remaining in the retort after the gasmalzing process is concluded you have but to turn the cock in the pipe l?, see perspective, leading from the retort lto the smoke iiue or chimney and remove the cover to the aperture N, and the atmosphere lends its oxygen to sustain the combustion and the removal of the unconsumed carbonaceous matter that remains.

Having thus described my invention and improvements in constructing gas retorts for the manufacture of illuminating gas and the cleaning of the same I do not claim the retort only as in connection With my arrangement nor do I claim the mode of introducing the gas making material into the retort as set forth nor the exit of the gas as described nor the conducting the fumes from a retort by a pipe only in connection with my arrangement as described. But

IVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In the construction orn apparatus for the manufacturing' of gas from resin or oils, the spiral column resting on feet With the flue through the center-and also the apertures between the threads of the spiral column in combination with the case, in the manner and for the purposes substantially as set forth.

ALFRED MARSH.

Signed in presence of- E. R. BENTLEY, R. M. GRAY. 

